The film shot where his family is from, and his teenage daughters came down for part of it, which meant that for the first time in a long time the job and the reason for the job were in the same building.
Berto opens up about what changes on set when your kids are old enough to actually understand what you do, and are staying in the same hotel while you do it. He talks about working with the Catalyst team for a third or fourth time and what a studio bringing you back repeatedly actually says about your work. He gets candid about supporting a comedian stepping into serious drama for the first time, the parallel with Mary J. Blige on Power Book II, and why an ensemble treats a first-timer’s leap as everyone’s job rather than one person’s. Berto breaks down a pattern in his own career he had not fully noticed until it was pointed out, men with influence over people they cannot actually control, and unpacks what his character is really chasing underneath the gambling and the bravado. He also explains his real preparation method, which is less about the first read of a script than about the fourth and fifth, when the subconscious takes over and the accidents start surfacing.
An essential watch for anyone who wants to hear a working actor describe process without a single piece of mystique.
